US town reflects on dragging death before execution

23 Apr 2019, 11:24PM ISTSource: AP

This is how james byrd junior's family remembers him…full of joy and singing… History recalls him differently…as a victim of a heinous hate crime - In June of 1998, byrd, a 49-year-old black man, was beaten by three white men, chained to a pick up and dragged to death near jasper, texas. His body dumped in front of a black church. The murderers - motivated by racial hatred…. The incident brought visits from the ku klux klan and the black panthers. More than 20 years after on april 24, one of the convicted … john william king, will be put to death by lethal injection. Rashad lewis - a city council member who's also running for mayor was in middle school when byrd was murdered. While acknowledging the past pain the current mayor says jasper wants to look forward..it recently attracted outside investment, and managed to convince a tech services company to locate in jasper. The east texas city is a multi-ethnic community and after his death byrd's sisters say jasper had an overdue talk on race relations. And in reaction, texas refined its hate crime laws to make them less vague. Lawmakers amended federal hate crime laws too in byrd's name. Only after byrd's death did a fence separating the city cemetery into a black and white section… come down … Byrd's grave itself…remains surrounded by a fence…has been desecrated several times… The family has made sure jasper remembers. They did at their expense… installing a park bench by the courthouse and a park, both bearing byrd's name…they also hold their own commemorations. His sisters say almost half a city is pained by not talking enough about the past, the execution is a reminder, they say, another chance to continue a dialogue. John mone associated press jasper texas.